Cruiser5137

Came off Britannia yesterday and my issue with Epicurean was that the meals I ate there (went twice so I could try both menus) were far too fussy; there were far too many flavours on the plate.

I agree with others about Epicurean being a disappointment. I enjoyed Sindhu but the best recommendation I have is that you try The Chef's Table in the Cookery Club. It cost £45 per person but the food was excellent and prepared in front of you. Welcome drinks and three different wines served with dinner were also included. Numbers are limited to 14 guests so it feels really special

Thanks for this. As I mentioned in my previous post I am on Arcadia for my next three cruises so this has put my mind at rest.

I'm on Britannia later this month but my next three cruises are all on Arcadia (May 2023 to Med, Sept 2023 to Baltic, June 2024 to Norway/Iceland). I'm beginning to have second thoughts about Arcadia so would be very keen to hear comments - good or bad - from people who've recently sailed on her. Thanks in advance.

I'm thinking of forming a new and, from reading many of these comments, what I imagine will be a rather elite club. It'll be called the 'I did an Iona cruise to Norway and got to all four ports!' club.

I'm as quick as the next person to criticise P&O when their customer service is poor (as it often is), but I spoke to a young lady on Saturday morning about a shareholder issue and she could not have been more helpful - she emailed me all the info I needed and 30 mins after emailing the shareholder department, my OBC had been applied. Excellent service.

My sister was on Britannia last week and Marseilles was cancelled the day before they were due to dock so at least I've had some notice for my cruise at end of August.

Off Iona on 2 July and used the TS three times during the week - £35 for a 2 hour session. On one occasion I was the only person in there (6pm -8pm). On another, there were 3 of us. There was only one day when it was 'busy' with approx 15 people in there (both 3.30pm - 5.30pm slots). I'm not a big fan of the pre-booked slots however.

All three ships are family friendly so will be busy in August. All have an adult-only Retreat which you can book for an extra charge (approx £245 per person for a 14 night cruise). Families looking for two weeks in the Med are likely to go for Britannia or Azura rather than Iona which I believe is still doing one week cruises to Norway in August. Azura cruises are all fly-cruises, however, so you need to factor that into your equation.

I was in Haugesand a few weeks ago and there were local shuttle buses available for 60NOK return. You can walk into town but it's a pretty dull walk - think Gibraltar only without the charm! Haugesand is a good port to book a tour. Stavanger is OK but don't bother with the HoHo bus which costs 350NOK and is definitely not worth it. Do take the local bus out to the Three Swords ( return costs about 60NOK) but you need to buy a ticket before boarding - ask at Tourist Info for directions.

Iona's Norwegian cruise season has been shambolic and, it must be said, it is worrying that the problems with missed ports and disruption due to weather were not identified as a potential issue much earlier. I was on G220 and so was extremely lucky not to have had any disruption (other than a pre-cruise cancellation of a stop at Geiranger). What was annoying, however, was having paid £65 for a Geirangerfjord cruise only for Iona to make almost the same journey on our departure from Hellesylt.

Randox gets my vote. Pre-cruise testing was suddenly removed from my recent Iona cruise and, having already booked and paid for my Randox test, I was impressed that I received a complete refund within a couple of days